Ten On Tuesday

Yesterday I texted Kym and told her I was stumped for a topic for Ten on Tuesday this week. She texted back with the suggestions that we do something for Mother’s Day and so, this week’s topic is 10 Things My Mom Taught Me. I think it’s perfect!

To be neat and clean. I was the kid who wore a white pant suit to kindergarten and I came home clean. Yep. She taught me to clean up as I go when I’m cooking. She taught me to pick up the house before I go to bed so that it’s neat in the morning and always ready for company. These may seem like trivial skills but she created a standard of order for me that has served me very well for my entire life.

To read. I could read before I started kindergarten and I owe that to my mom. She also taught me to use the public library – we went together every week when I was a kid and I’m so grateful for that. After all, I turned it into a career.

To cook. She showed me how to make a white sauce when I was 10 and that was just the beginning. One of the last things she taught me to make was her pie crust and I think of her every time I make a pie.

To entertain. My mom taught me so much about making people feel welcome in my home. About showing someone you care by cooking something special for them. About setting a table and making it pretty and so much more. My love of entertaining is absolutely because my mom taught me how to do it without being afraid or intimidated.

To decorate and make the most of a holiday/season/event. My mom loved holidays and she taught me to feel the same way. From the big ones – like Christmas – to the smaller ones like 4th of July – there are decorations at my house.

To be careful about drinking too much. It’s not easy to admit this but my mom had a drinking problem. Was she an alcoholic? Maybe. Maybe not. But she definitely drank too much and that really ramped up after my brother died. I sure can’t blame her for that but I did learn to be careful about this. To slow down, to not drink every day, to gauge whether I need a drink or want a drink and why. It’s a lesson I’m sure she’d rather have not taught me but I’ve managed to turn it into something good in my life and I think she’d be glad about that.

To write thank you notes. I was just having a conversation the other day with someone about how people don’t write thank you notes any more. I do. I write them when I receive a gift. I write them when someone has us over for dinner or a party. I write them after I have been a house guest at someone’s home. It’s something that I think is very very important and I learned it from my mom.

To drive a car. I got my license later than most – I was a college graduate and 21 years old. My mom was very patient through the process and, although I had lessons from a driving school, she was the one who taught me to park successfully and I can still remember that night in the empty registry parking lot so clearly.

To not be afraid to attend a wake. This might seem like a strange thing but my mom took me to my first wake when I was about 10 years old. It was an old, old man who was a family friend. She knew that the people there wouldn’t be terribly sad and she took me deliberately so that I could experience it and not be afraid of it. I’m so glad she did this for me because I know adults who simply won’t go to these things and I think that’s a shame.

To be confident. From the time I can remember my mom told me I could be anything I wanted to be. She told me I could do anything I wanted to do. She told me I could go to any college I wanted to go to, that I was smart and pretty and kind and good. No one has the ability to teach those lessons like a mom does and I’m glad mine taught me this. I would not have the job I have, be the person I am, be married to Dale and be the mom and stepmom I am if it weren’t for this lesson. Of all the things she taught me – and there are many more than are listed here – this one is the most important.

Our moms are such a big influence in our lives – here’s to the good ones! If you wrote a post for today please click the button below to add your link. As always, if you want to sign up for the Ten on Tuesday email then please click here.

Your Mom had to have been one phenomenal woman, and I wish I’d gotten the chance to meet and know her. I’m terribly glad that I know you, so at least I know the kind of woman she was 🙂 My Mom taught me to be kind to people; to be interested in who and what they are; that the customer is always right (but when they’re wrong, it’s ok to throw them out); that you don’t have to be good at everything you do as long as you try your absolute best; that it’s ok to start a project and then another project, and another, it’s better to love what you are working on than to belabor something you just don’t like; and most of all, she taught me to love <3

I’m having a hard time coming up with ten things. Not because I don’t have ten things that my mom taught me. I’m having a hard time thinking of ten specific things. I start thinking of my mom/try to put things into words and I want to cry. It’s very weird.